The British Steel Pension Fund was the big winner at this year’s IPE Awards, held at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, taking home three trophies.

In addition to winning the coveted Best European Pension Fund Award, the €19.3bn defined benefit scheme also won the Best Pension Fund in the United Kingdom and In-house Investment Team awards.

Theo Kocken, founder and chief executive of Cardano, won the Outstanding Industry Contribution Award for his influence in the pensions industry with regard to risk management and preparing for future financial crises.

PenSam’s Helen Kobæk walked away with the Pension Fund Achievement of the Year Award for her commitment to the development of social welfare benefits in Denmark.

PenSam picked up two further awards for Active Management and Specialist Investment Managers.

The fourth Gold Award – for Long-Term Investment Strategy – went to the UK’s Trafalgar House Pension Trust.

Other notable winners included the UK’s Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund (MNOPF), SEB Pension of Denmark and Germany’s Bosch Pensionsfonds, which each won two awards.

The MNOPF won the Alternatives and Innovation awards, while SEB Pension took home the Equities and Smart Beta trophies.

Bosch Pensionsfonds came out best in the Fixed Income and Diversification awards.

Altogether, there were 43 awards from a record number of entries.

 

The full list of winners 

GOLD AWARDS    

Best European Pension Fund: British Steel Pension Fund

Outstanding Industry Contribution: Theo Kocken, Cardano

Pension Fund Achievement of the Year: Helen Kobæk, PenSam

Long-Term Investment Strategy: Trafalgar House Pension Trust

 

SILVER AWARDS    

Active Management: PenSam

Passive Management: West Midlands Pension Fund

Best Corporate Pension Fund: Santander UK Group Pension Scheme Common Fund

Best Industry-Wide Pension Fund: Pension Protection Fund

Best Public Pension Fund: The Church Commissioners

Best Small European Pension Fund: Frjálsi Pension Fund

Best Sovereign Reserve Fund: FRR and NLB Penziski Fond

 

BRONZE AWARDS 

Alternatives: Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund

Equities: SEB Pension

Fixed Income: Bosch Pensionsfonds AG

 

COUNTRY AWARDS

Best Pension Fund in Austria: Allianz Pensionskasse (Pensionskasse) and VBV – Vorsorgekasse (Vorsorgekasse)

Best Pension Fund in Belgium: Integrale

Best Pension Fund in Central & Eastern Europe: KB First Pension Company

Best Pension Fund in Denmark: PFA Pension

Best Pension Fund in Finland: Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Best Pension Fund in France: Ircantec

Best Pension Fund in Germany: Deutsche Telekom Pensionswerke (bAV) and Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (Versorgungswerk)     

Best Pension Fund in Ireland: Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme

Best Pension Fund in Italy: Fondo Pensione Laborfonds

Best Pension Fund in The Netherlands: Nedlloyd Pensioenfonds

Best Pension Fund in Portugal: Fundo de Pensões Aberto BPI Valorização

Best Pension Fund in Small Countries: Almenni Pension Fund

Best Pension Fund in Spain: Pensions Caixa 30

Best Pension Fund in Sweden: SPK

Best Pension Fund in Switzerland: Pension Fund SBB

Best Pension Fund in the UK: British Steel Pension Fund

 

THEMED AWARDS

Climate-Related Risk Management: Environment Agency Pension Fund

DC/Hybrid Strategy: NEST

Diversification: Bosch Pensionsfonds AG

Emerging Markets: Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund

ESG: ERAFP

Infrastructure: PensionDanmark

In-house Investment Team: British Steel Pension Fund

Innovation: Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund

Portfolio Construction: FRR

Real Estate: Merseyside Pension Fund

Risk Management: Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL)

Smart Beta: SEB Pension

Specialist Investment Managers: PenSam

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